Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from December, 2019

Cars Are Secretly Spying on Us

https://ift.tt/35LHjGQ Your car is likely capturing hundreds of data points about you and your driving, and secretly sending it to the manufacturer. Hacking into a 2017 Chevrolet for The Washington Post, tech writer Geoffrey Fowler learned that the car had been tracking his location, monitoring activity on the cell phone he had connected, and collecting other data points that it sent straight to General Motors. It’s a disturbing revelation that serves as yet another reminder that digital privacy is a myth. Big Data, Money If he hadn’t hacked into the car with the help of an engineer, Fowler never would have learned about the comprehensive data collection and tracking — it wasn’t disclosed anywhere on the car or in the instruction manual. And most troubling, none of the information legally belonged to him. Massive stores of user data are incredibly valuable to tech companies and investors, and cars are just another vehicle — sorry — through which they can extract it. Hivemind It turns o

Facebook Says It Can Locate Users Even When They Opt Out Of Tracking

https://ift.tt/2Z4xEss Facebook has revealed in a letter sent to U.S. senators that it can locate users even if they opt-out of having location tracking turned on. The social media company’s deputy chief privacy officer, Rob Sherman, made the disclosure in a letter to senators Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) after they asked about the company’s policies on location tracking. In it, he explained that even if Facebook users turn off the location settings in their app, the company can piece together various bits of information, such as tagged photos, check-ins, and IP addresses, to determine where the individual is. “Even if someone does not enable Location Services, Facebook may still understand information about their location based on information that they and others provide through their activities and connections on our services,” Sherman wrote. “For example, if someone responds to an event on Facebook for a local music festival, uploads a location-tagged post, or

A Cheer for the Trump Uranium Plan

https://ift.tt/2Q29Mlf This proposed plan would create a reserve of domestically-mined uranium and stored in a “Federal Uranium Security Stockpile.” Uranium is used for America’s nuclear arsenal as well as domestic nuclear power plants. The left’s crusade against domestic uranium could hardly be more self-defeating. Copied Our sources are telling us that President Trump is nearing a decision on how to revive the all-but-dormant American uranium industry. This proposed plan would create a reserve of domestically-mined uranium and stored in a “Federal Uranium Security Stockpile.” One option on the table is for the Department of Defense to purchase uranium through the 1950 Defense Production Act. The president concluded in July that: “The United States requires domestically produced uranium to satisfy DOD requirements for maintaining effective military capabilities,” including the Navy’s nuclear fleet. Uranium is used for America’s nuclear arsenal as well as domestic nuclear power plants.

Hillary Clinton tried to establish a secret back channel to Israel, emails reveal

https://ift.tt/2ramlmd Hillary Clinton tried to establish a secret back channel to Israel while she was Secretary of State using lawyer who now represents Michael Cohen, newly released emails reveal Latest heavily redacted email dump from Clinton's private account comprises 756 pages, Judicial Watch has revealed One email shows classified conversation between Clinton and family confidant Lanny Davis, who now represent Trump's ex-personal lawyer Michael Cohen She talks with Davis about establishing 'private, 100% off-the-record' back channel to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Another documents shows classified correspondence between Clinton and ex-British PM Tony Blair in April 2011 regarding Palestinian issues By NICK ENOCH FOR MAILONLINE PUBLISHED: 07:00 EST, 22 March 2019 | UPDATED: 19:27 EST, 22 March 2019 e-mail 5.8k shares 3 View comments +4 A new slew of classified emails from Hillary Clinton's private email server show that she discussed setting up

Fifth Pentagon official announces resignation in seven days | TheHill

https://ift.tt/35B4Av3 The Defense Department’s senior adviser for international cooperation earlier this week left the Pentagon, marking the fifth top official in seven days to leave or announce their departure. Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, a longtime State Department official who began working in her Pentagon role in September 2018, resigned on Dec. 16, the Pentagon confirmed. Defense News first reported her departure. “We appreciate her service to the department and wish her continued success. ... The department remains committed to the development and implementation of international cooperative programs and defense exportability efforts to foster cooperation with U.S. allies on research, development, production and support of weapons systems and related equipment,” a Department of Defense (DOD) spokesman said in a statement. “The department will not provide anything further on this personnel matter,” the spokesman added. Michael Vaccaro, the director for international armaments cooper

Brazil Police Search Maersk Offices in Corruption Probe

https://ift.tt/2trrCGB Police on Wednesday raided Brazilian offices of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk as part of a probe into corruption at state-run oil company Petrobras. Maersk and its subsidiaries signed 69 shipping contracts with Petrobras worth 968 million reais ($309 million) between 2002 and 2012, according to a statement from prosecutors. Their intial estimate is that $3.4 million in bribes were paid in connection to 11 contracts. Prosecutors are also investigating two ship brokers.

Abu Dhabi Draws Flack After Blocking Prominent Anti-Corruption Journalist From UN Conference On Graft

https://ift.tt/2ExypRu The wisdom of holding a major UN anti-coruption conference in the UAE has been called into question, after the authorities detained a leading anti-graft journalist at Abu Dhabi airport and denied him entry to the country, where he was due to speak at the event. Stevan Dojčinović, founder and editor-in-chief of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) in Serbia, was detained at Abu Dhabi International airport on December 17. After 12 hours of detention, he was put on a return flight to Belgrade. Dojčinović had flown to the UAE capital to take part in the Conference of States Parties (CoSP) to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), where he was to appear on a panel dealing with the topic: New approaches in addressing cross-border corruption, money laundering and organised crime. He had an official invitation letter and was registered to attend the conference as a member of the delegation of the UNCAC Coalition, a network of over 350 civil society or

5 NJ Public Officials, Political Candidates Snared in Huge Corruption Probe

https://ift.tt/36LKnD4 Five former and current public officials and political candidates in New Jersey are facing charges of taking bribes following a major corruption investigation, the state's attorney general announced Thursday. The five defendants are charged with taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a cooperating witness in the form of campaign contributions, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said. In return, the defendants allegedly promised the cooperating witness, who is a tax attorney, that they would vote or use their official authority or influence to hire or continue to hire his law firm for lucrative government legal work. Envelopes and paper bags filled with cash – and even a coffee cup stuffed with cash – were delivered to the defendants by the cooperating witness at restaurants, parking lots, a political fundraiser, and a campaign headquarters, according to Gurbir. Other times the cooperating witness offered checks from illegal “straw donors” – which are individu

Surveillance footage taken during first Epstein suicide attempt missing

https://ift.tt/2MabmAr Surveillance footage recorded inside a Lower Manhattan prison at the time of Jeffrey Epstein’s first apparent suicide attempt has mysteriously gone missing, officials admitted Wednesday. The footage was recorded outside the millionaire pedophile’s cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on July 23, when Epstein apparently tried to hang himself at the lockup. Epstein was sharing the cell with Nick Tartaglione, a hulking former cop in Westchester County accused of killing four people in a botched drug deal. Tartaglione’s lawyer had requested that the footage be preserved — but prosecutors admitted in a court hearing Wednesday that the footage has gone missing, the lawyer, Bruce Barket, said. “I don’t know the details of how it was lost or destroyed or why it wasn’t retained when it should have been,” Barket said. Barket has maintained Tartaglione came to Epstein’s aide and tried to alert the guards when the perv tried to commit suicide in the cell. “We want to

Cunning Lawfare Maneuver – House Will Withhold Submission of Articles from Senate…

https://ift.tt/2PW8dFs Seemingly overlooked by most, when the House voted on the ‘rules of impeachment’ they removed the traditional appointment of House Managers to a later date. Normally the House Managers would be appointed at the same time as the impeachment vote; however, by withholding the appointment House Democrats are indicating they will not immediately send articles of impeachment to the senate but will rather hold the articles as support for pending court cases toward their judicial authority. A cunning Lawfare ploy. As interested observers will note the House never voted to authorize the full judicial impeachment process; instead they voted to approve an inquiry into whether an impeachment should take place. By not voting to authorize articles of impeachment the House never gained ‘judicial enforcement authority‘. The absence of judicial authority is now working its way through the courts in various cases. It appears the absence of appointing House impeachment managers; an

Nancy Pelosi gave her caucus 'special instructions' for impeachment debate that tell us everything we need to know…

https://ift.tt/2Euu8hR Nancy Pelosi has instructed her caucus today not to gloat about impeaching Trump and to show unity during the impeachment debate, because they want to the American people to think they are serious and somber: The mere fact that Pelosi had to tell her members not to gloat and cheer over impeachment just shows everyone how unserious and joyful they really are over impeaching Trump. If they were actually somber and reflective about this, there’d be no need to give these instructions. Here’s how people are responding to this…

New rules will prohibit Asylum seekers who are spouse beaters, drunk drivers, identity thieves, or people who have fraudulently received welfare.

https://ift.tt/2Q4tyNc The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (collectively, “the Departments”) today issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would amend their respective regulations in order to prevent certain categories of criminal aliens from obtaining asylum in the United States. Upon finalization of the rulemaking process, the Departments will be able to devote more resources to the adjudication of asylum cases filed by non-criminal aliens. Asylum is a discretionary immigration benefit that generally can be sought by eligible aliens who are physically present or arriving in the United States, irrespective of their status, as provided in section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1158. However, in the INA, Congress barred certain categories of aliens from receiving asylum. In addition to the statutory bars, Congress delegated to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to establish by r

Judge dismisses New York state criminal charges against ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort on double jeopardy grounds

https://ift.tt/2sAwp8l A judge on Wednesday dismissed New York state criminal charges filed against Paul Manafort, the fallen Republican lobbyist who had served as President Donald Trump’s campaign chief in 2016. The dismissal was a blow to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who had brought the case against Manafort right after he was sentenced to a federal prison term earlier this year. Manafort was not in court for Wednesday’s hearing in Manhattan. He suffered a medical issue last week at the federal prison in Pennsylvania where he is serving his seven-and-a-half-year term. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is escorted into court for his arraignment in New York Supreme Court, June 27, 2019. Lucas Jackson | Reuters A judge on Wednesday dismissed New York state criminal charges filed against Paul Manafort, the fallen Republican lobbyist who served for several months as President Donald Trump’s campaign chief in 2016, thwarting an effort to keep Manafort behind bars

Judge freezes assets of millionaire CEO who put plane on autopilot to have sex with teen girl

https://ift.tt/34AkrJb A judge on Tuesday froze the assets of a former CEO of a New Jersey investment firm who put his private plane on autopilot to have sex with a 15-year-old girl. Steven Bradley Mell, 52, who is serving seven years in federal prison, lived on a 50-acre estate in Bedminster and owned several jets and helicopters, according to the victim’s attorney, Bruce H. Nagel of Roseland. Mell was sentenced in June after he pleaded guilty to one count of interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct and one count of receipt of child pornography. Nagel sued Mell on behalf of the victim, who is now 18, and argued in Essex County Superior Court on Tuesday that Mell’s assets should be frozen pending the outcome of the lawsuit. Judge Robert Gardner, who also heard arguments from attorneys representing Mell and his wife, ruled that all of Mell’s assets be frozen and paid into an escrow account, according to Nagel. ”Not only did Mell commit these vile acts, he bragged to his vic

Vatican ambassador to France resigns after molestation allegations

https://ift.tt/38OYnhm Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Holy See's ambassador to France, who has been accused of sexual molestation, the Vatican said on Tuesday. Ventura last week turned 75, the age at which all bishops are obliged to hand in their resignations to the pope. Francis sometimes accepts them quickly, as in Ventura's case, and sometimes keeps people in their jobs longer. French authorities opened an investigation into Ventura in January after a junior official at Paris City Hall accused him of molestation. The Vatican lifted Ventura's diplomatic immunity in July so he could be questioned by prosecutors. Ventura has not commented on the allegations.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort hospitalized for cardiac event: Sources

https://ift.tt/34BlDMA President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been hospitalized for a cardiac event while serving his over seven-year sentence for charges related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, according to two sources familiar with his situation. Manafort has been serving out his sentence as of late in a federal correctional institution in central Pennsylvania. In this June 27, 2019, file photo, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort exits the courtroom after his arraignment in New York Supreme Court in New York.In this June 27, 2019, file photo, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort exits the courtroom after his arraignment in New York Supreme Court in New York. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters, FILE Manafort has been recovering since last Thursday at a local Pennsylvania hospital under the watch of correctional officers. Sources tell ABC News the 70-year-old longtime Republican strategist is stable and could be released soon. Manafo

Swedish Researcher 'INTIMIDATED' After Exposing Rape Gangs

https://ift.tt/2YNiJ63 197 BUZZ Share Tweet BY ANGELA EAGLEHEART – EDITOR AT LARGE A SWEDISH researcher who claimed that 98% of gang rapes in Sweden were committed by non-Europeans says she faced intimidation by a former contributor from a group partly funded by George Soros, Politicalite on Sunday can exclusively reveal. Bilyana Martinovski, a former Stockholm University lecturer whose expertise is in artificial intelligence (AI), also states the worrying fact that only 5% of these gang rapists are convicted and sent to prison for their crime in Sweden. Bilyana was conducting a study idea of incorporating virtual AI technology to help rape victims as it does presently for soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She asked every district court on the statistics for rape, gang rape, aggravated rape and over a five-year period was stunned to find “5% of the reported gang rapes got convicted, in most cases they were dropped on the pre-investigation stage,” said Professor Marti

Two Huge Suppressed News Reports Display Corrupt US and Allied Mainstream Press - Global Research

https://ift.tt/2S18BFp On Friday, December 12th, Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept reported and documented that the mainstream U.S. press has lied through its teeth about “Russiagate,” and Zero Hedge reported and documented that not only had the U.S., UK, and France, committed an international war-crime when they invaded Syria on 14 April 2018 firing 105 missiles against Damascus, but the U.N.-authorized agency OPCW that was supposed to investigate the U.S.-&-allied allegation which had been the alleged ‘justification’ for that invasion was instead lying through its teeth about what the evidence actually showed about it: that this invasion had been based upon U.S.-&-allied lies. These lies by the U.S.-and-allied ’news’-media are not exceptions to the rule; they are the rule whenever anything happens that is contrary to the self-justificatory ‘journalism’, or actually propaganda-line, of the U.S., and of its allied governments. The lying that got these countries into invading Ira

Kazakh president reshuffles senior officials | One America News Network

https://ift.tt/2PXDvvK Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday named Kanat Bozumbayev, previously energy minister, a presidential aide, and reshuffled a number of other senior officials. Tokayev did not immediately name a new energy minister, a key position in the oil-and-gas exporting Central Asian nation. Tokayev appointed Madina Abylkasymova, until now a deputy central bank governor, the head of a newly established financial supervision agency. He also removed political heavyweight Imangali Tasmagambetov from the position of Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Russia, saying he was reaching retirement age. The Kazakh president also sacked his deputy chief of staff, Darkhan Kaletayev, without providing any reason, and replaced him with Maulen Ashimbayev, previously an aide.

The Inspector General’s Report on 2016 FBI Spying Reveals a Scandal of Historic Magnitude: Not Only for the FBI but Also the U.S. Media

https://ift.tt/2YGTVMQ JUST AS WAS TRUE when the Mueller investigation closed without a single American being charged with criminally conspiring with Russia over the 2016 election, Wednesday’s issuance of the long-waited report from the Department of Justice’s Inspector General reveals that years of major claims and narratives from the U.S. media were utter frauds. Before evaluating the media component of this scandal, the FBI’s gross abuse of its power – its serial deceit – is so grave and manifest that it requires little effort to demonstrate it. In sum, the IG Report documents multiple instances in which the FBI – in order to convince a FISA court to allow it spy on former Trump campaign operative Carter Page during the 2016 election – manipulated documents, concealed crucial exonerating evidence, and touted what it knew were unreliable if not outright false claims. If you don’t consider FBI lying, concealment of evidence, and manipulation of documents in order to spy on a U.S. citi

Jordanian MP: 'I carried out 1969 attack on El Al/Mossad compound in Athens'

https://ift.tt/2rYVauO MainAll NewsMiddle East'I carried out 1969 attack on El Al/Mossad compound in Athens' Jordanian MP: 'I carried out 1969 attack on El Al/Mossad compound in Athens' Jordanian MP Mansour Saif Al-Din Mourad recounts how he carried out attack that claimed lives of several Mossad agents in Athens, Greece. Mordechai Sones, 17/12/19 17:22 Share Jordanian MP Mansour Saif Al-Din Mourad this month recounted in an interview on A One TV (Jordan) that he had carried out a high-profile attack that claimed the lives of several Mossad agents in Athens, Greece on December 27, 1969, reports the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). He said the Mossad compound he attacked had been disguised as a newspaper booth adjacent to an El Al office, adding that the Israeli agents “dropped like leaves in the middle of fall.” Explaining that the attack was carried out in broad daylight because that was when it was least expected, Mourad said that he had adhered to intern

Sudan Intelligence Dissolves 3 Media Outlets of Former Regime

https://ift.tt/34yc9S6 Director of Sudan's General Intelligence and Security Services Abu Bakr Demblab informed journalists of his decision to dissolve three of his media institutions, at a time when more media freedoms are expected to be introduced in the country. Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Demblab closed the English-language newspaper “Sudan Vision”, the Sudanese Media Center (SMC) and Khartoum Electronic Media Center (KEM), all of which were affiliated with the ouster ruling regime. The employees in these institutions expressed their regret at the decision, which they viewed as unfair and contradictory to the revolution and does not honor the efforts they made to change the editorial policy to support the transitional government. On Saturday, a committee dedicated to disbanding the former ruling National Congress Party was formed and granted power to dissolve all institutions affiliated with it. The committee has not yet made any decisions or started operating, according to so

Turkish intelligence agency tries to derail the case of murdered Armenian journalist - Nordic Monitor

https://ift.tt/36L9pSU The Turkish intelligence agency has been trying to derail the case of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, whose murder pointed to shadowy elements within the Turkish security and intelligence establishment. Although the murder took place in broad daylight in İstanbul almost 13 years ago, Turkish authorities have failed to bring to justice the masterminds behind the assassination of Dink. Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), which was revealed to have threatened the the journalist when he was alive, is accused of intervening in the trial right from the start in an effort to prevent the unmasking of the real figures behind the teenage triggerman. On March 14, 2019 the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court, trying public officers accused of negligence in the murder, surprisingly ruled to call as witnesses MİT officials who met with Dink at the office of a deputy governor in 2004. It was a turning point in the history of the case since the court h

Court Orders F.B.I. to Fix National Security Wiretaps After Damning R…

https://ift.tt/2PAINhT In a rare public order, the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court responded to problems with the eavesdropping on a former Trump campaign aide uncovered by an inspector general. A new order indicated that the secretive federal surveillance court would weigh any F.B.I. proposals to overhaul its process for seeking permission to start national security wiretaps. A new order indicated that the secretive federal surveillance court would weigh any F.B.I. proposals to overhaul its process for seeking permission to start national security wiretaps.Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York Times Charlie Savage By Charlie Savage Dec. 17, 2019 Updated 7:13 p.m. ET 188 WASHINGTON — A secretive federal court accused the F.B.I. on Tuesday of misleading judges about the rationale for wiretapping a former Trump campaign adviser and ordered the bureau to propose changes in how investigators seek their permission for national security surveillance targeting Americans. In

Cop tries to expose corruption in Soros-funded D.A.’s office. Gets threatened with criminal charges.

https://ift.tt/36WP11p Cop tries to expose corruption in Soros-funded D.A.’s office. Gets threatened with criminal charges. Posted by LET Guest | Dec 16, 2019 | Must Reads, News, Investigations, Law and Legal, Featured 8.1k By Ralph Cipriano PHILADELPHIA, PA — Derrick “Jake” Jacobs was one of the Philadelphia police detectives assigned to investigate the 2017 fatal police shooting of dirt biker David Jones. The victim was black; Ryan Pownall, the officer who pulled the trigger, was white. Jacobs, who is black, says that race played no part in his investigation, which exonerated the officer; neither did any supposed loyalty to his fellow cops. “If it’s a bad shooting, there’s nothing you can do about it,” said Jacobs, a veteran detective of 20 years who formerly worked homicide before he was assigned to the Philly P.D.’s Officer Involved Shooting Investigation Unit. “The facts are the facts,” the detective said, and “you can’t get around them.” (CBS 3 Broadcast Screenshot) But Jacobs’ f